Friday, November 16, 2007

Reading about Dragon Ball, inevitably I came across details about how much censorship was exercised over the series in America. This is understandably so, since the difference between cultures is a great divide yet to be bridged.

Things like the family bath scene in My Neighbour Totoro was a point of discussion for some because the father is seen bathing together with his two young daughters. In Japan where this is standard practice among families, this is no problem, but in America it would, and did, raise some eyebrows. Incidentally, Disney was reported to have been jittery about a similar bathhouse scene in Takahata Isao's Only Yesterday, and was hesitant about releasing the film.

In the US version of Dragon Ball aired over Cartoon Network, scenes of Goku naked were digitally fixed, among other "problematic" stuff like panties, homosexuality and paedophilia.

Which now brings us to the point I wanted raise.

When The Simpsons Movie came out, there was much buzz surrounding a certain scene involving Bart Simpson's first full-frontal nude scene. Aiyah, I say, what's the big deal, especially if you've been a long-time fan of Crayon Shinchan?

Shinchan's been "hanging it all out" since time immemorial. And what's more, he's done it on television before!